Garment-supporter



(No Model.)

J. JENSEN 8t P. A. JOHNSON.

GARMENT SUPPORTBR. No. 352,325. Patented Nov. 9, 1886.

{ WI HH II:

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

JOHN C. JENSEN AND FRANK A. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,325, dated November9, 1886.

Application tiled October 13, 1884. Serial No. 145,364. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN G. JENSEN and FRANK A. JOHNSON, of the city ofChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented anew and Improved Hose and Gan ment Holder, not heretofore patented, andwhich has not been in public use or on sale for more than two years, ofwhich the followingis a specification.

The object of our invention is to produce a hose and garment holder atthe smallest possible cost, not liable to get out of order, made out ofone piece of metal or other elastic material, with a smooth surface,avoiding projections which would tear garments, simple in operation, sothat a small child can use it, clasping the garment in such a way as toretain its hold without the tension of the elastic strap attached,holding the garment by the even parallel edges of the jaws by pressurethe entire length of the jaws, thus avoiding cutting or tearingthegarment, and by the jaws opening upward and outward, by theelasticity of the metal, adapting themselves to the thinnest silk orheaviest woolen hose, or other garment.

The invention consists in a sheetmetal clasp for a garment-supporter,constructed as hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the blank outlined andapertured to receive the supporting-strap, and also provided with atriangular opening at D, but not slitted or bent. Fig. 2 shows the sameblank slitted before bending. Fig. 3 shows the clasp in front viewcomplete. Fig. 4 is a central vertical section of the completed clasp inthe line a: x, or through the vertical slit. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsection through the transverse slit of the clasp.

In making a clasp in accordance with our invention a fiat piece of hardand elastic sheet metal maybe cut to the general form seen in Figs. 1,2, and 3, and apertured at B to afford a crossbar, A, at the top, aboutwhich the strap of the supporter will be secured. At its lower end saidaperture B desirably converges from both sides to a central point, 0,whence a vertical slit, 0 D, is cut of sufficient length to give asuitable hold on the garment to be supported. At the bottom of the slit0 D is a transverse slit, E I, which preferably extends an equaldistance on both sides of the vertical slit, as shown. Two opposing jawsare thus formed, which normally meet or very closely proximate, eachother at the vertical slit, but which may be opened or parted by forcingthe adjacent edges of thejaws forwardly out of the general plane oftheclasp. The slit E P permits the jaws to be separated equally from topto bottom, and to bear inwardly also with practically equal forcethroughout their length. Onejaw,instead oftwo,will be practicable, butless desirable, and may be formed by a slit, E

P, located wholly at one side of the vertical slit. Alter the blank hasbeen thus slitted vertically and horizontally, the lower end, M, of theblank is folded on the lineIJ, and bent upward against the body of theclasp on the back side thereof, as indicated in Fig. 4, with its edge GH above the slit E 1?. Finally, it is desirable to slightly curve thelower or folded end of the clasp outwardly into the concavoconvex formshown in- Fig. 5, to give greater rigidity in opposition to the strainupon the clasp in use and to facilitate the admission of the garmentwhich is to be sustained within the slit 0 D.

The margin of the hose or other garment to be upheld is seized by thefingers through the opening B and drawn outwardly into the slit 0 D, themetal at each side of the slit yielding in this operation to allow thefabric to enter. Vhen the fabric is released,the opposing metal jaws,which are separated by the slit 0 D, close upon the fabric, and thelatter is held more tightly as the backward strain thereon is increased.The upturned part M not only stiffens the clasp, but its upper edgeoperates as a stop to prevent the fabric from being drawn into thelateral slit or slits E P, and thus retains said fabric in position tobe easily withdrawn from the slit 0 D by an upward and outward tensionthereon by the fingers without being caught in said transverse slit.

We prefer to terminate the slitG D at its lower end in a triangularhole, (seen at D in Fig. 1,) which has the final effect of cutting offthe lower corners of the jaws. This further prevents the fabric fromcatching in the jaws should it be possibly drawn on the front side belowthe edge of the upturned part M.

We disclaim all constructions of hose-supporters made of bent wire, andrestrict ourselves strictly to a supporter made of sheet metal cut andotherwise formed, substantially as described and specified in thefollowing claims, there being a wide distinction in the mode ofoperation, as well as in their practical efticiency, between these twoclasses of structures. Thus,'in a wire loop the slit opens only bylateral movement of the parts of the wires which form the slit, and thecompression of said wires upon the fabric is exclusively that which isdue to their resiliency. This fact, taken in connection with the roundedsurface of the wire, has rendered such wire structures valueless for thepurpose of hose-supporters. In the case of the sheet-metal device hereindescribed, on the other hand, the opening of the slit which receives thefabri'c is produced not by a lateral but by a forward movement of thejaws at the sides of the slit, and the clamping effect of such jaws isdue not only to their resiliency,which tends to return them to theiroriginal plane, but in part to the draft or strain upon the fabricengaged, so that the greater the strain upon the fabric the greater thecompression which the jaws exert upon it.

The angular edges of the jaws when out from a piece of sheet metal,moreover, prevent the fabric from slipping between them, and the latteris therefore held against the strain upon the garment in a manner and toa degree utterly impossible in the case of a rounded wire-loop.

We claim as our invention- 1. The hose-supporter consisting of a pieceofsheet metal having an opening, B, a vertical slit leading downwardtherefrom, atransverse slit at the bottom of the vertical slit, and astop attached to the lower end of the body, and located back of andextending above the transverse slit to support the jaws formed by theslits, substantially as described.

2. The hose-supporter consisting of a single piece of sheet metalprovided with an openin". B, a central slit, C D, and a transverse slit,E P, and also having its lower end upturned on the back side to form astop for thejaws formed by the slits, substantially as described.

JOHN G. JENSEN. FRANK A. JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses:

R. W. SMITH, S. K. ELMORE.

